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I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

aschmelyun.com

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Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#31

I have a receipt printer I was using for grocery lists. I still haven't found a good use for it yet. I love how extremely fast it is though and it has auto cut. Maybe I can use it for a ticket system at work.

any kind of todo thing it would be good for or temporary labeling things with painter's tape.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BPA free thermal paper has been around for a while. A few years ago, I bought a box of it for a similar project (JIRA events -> Receipt printer)

I think "BPA free" means "BPS". I think that's less-studied but not necessarily better. [Edit: but "phenol-free" is likely actually safe, thanks for pointing that out. I should read my own link fully!]

Yeah they're "BPA free" in roughly the same sense that 1P-LSD is "LSD free"

Those blue receipt papers seem okay though: https://www.koehlerpaper.com/en/products/Thermal-paper/Blue4...

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#34

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

Yeah, the machine came with a few spools of BPA-free paper, but that just means there's a less-tested alternative like some of the responses are saying. I was a cashier for 4 years though, so this is probably a drop in the bucket for what's already in my system.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#35

These printers are fun. I got one from a hardware swap meet a few years back and used the same software to work it into a public art project I did a bit later. You could listen to or record your own “dream” story to a kiosk, and upon leaving one, you’d get a paper receipt. It was a fun, tangible interaction that gave a bit of permanence to something purely audio. https://justinmiller.io/services/dreamdial1.jpg

"instant photo" printers are another fun tangible thing like that! Polaroid nailed it way back when, everyone loves something instant and tangible like that.

You can get Fuji printers which use Instax film, or Canon makes a similar one they call the Selphy, or there's the Zink printer line as well.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#36

This is a fun idea, but I've read thermal paper is surprisingly nasty stuff. [Edit: unless it's advertised as "phenol-free".] It's not just paper. It contains plastics (BPA or BPS) that you absorb through your skin when handling it. I'd avoid working with receipts at my desk all day. (I'd also avoid being a grocery store cashier...) https://www.pca.state.mn.us/green-chemistry/bpa-thermal-pape...

that explains why it tastes so bad

How do you know how it tastes?

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#37

This is a really funny read for a Friday morning. It should play an MP3 of a line cook in a busy diner shouting, "Order up!", and then he can stick it on a rotating order wheel hanging above his desk. EDIT: One of these things: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/choice-stainless-steel-orde...

I hope he at least has one of those receipt spikes to stick it on when the issue is closed.

Those things always drive me crazy. Something about having a metal spike sticking up from a counter.

Although I’ve always had problems with sharp corners. For instance, if I’m reading in a chair and there’s a small table next to me and the corner is sharp, I can’t handle it and have to cover it (like set a book so it’s hanging over the edge). It bugs my eyes for some reason. Same if I’m watching TV and there’s furniture with sharp corners near the TV.

I really hate that this affects me so much, so mostly sharing in case someone else deals with this or knows what’s going on.

Re: I built a receipt printer for GitHub issues

#39
post #22

If the author is here - please include pictures of the printer and output in the article! There is an embedded twitter video, but it seems more aligned with the spirit of the project to use the traditional visual aids :)

I'll make some edits to the article today to include those!
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